


Immolate

by Terminallydepraved



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Character Study, Deviancy, Kissing, M/M, Smoking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-06
Updated: 2018-08-06
Packaged: 2019-06-22 23:16:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,023
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15592938
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Terminallydepraved/pseuds/Terminallydepraved
Summary: Gavin Reed plays havoc with Nines's code like no other. It'd just be nice if Nines could figure out why.





	Immolate

**Author's Note:**

> dedicated to the ever lovely Leemorry for the tasty coffees! Hope y'all like it!

When Gavin went missing during the day, Nines always knew where to find him. 

The certainty was a comfort in some sense. Gavin, though loathe to admit it, was a creature of habit. He came in at the same time everyday, bypassed his desk, and got himself a coffee from the breakroom. He’d drink it standing up, scrolling through the days emails on his tablet before finally settling behind his desk in a slump that was horrible for his posture, and he’d stay there until he found reason to stand up again. 

After several weeks as the detective’s partner, Nines prided himself on knowing these ticks, these little rote behaviors that gave the human some sense of structure. In many ways Gavin was an enigma. In many others, he was predictability defined. 

Nines opened the door that led out onto the roof of the building, proving the latter true once more. The day was cold, blustery, the chill only compounded by the height of the building and the winds that made it sway like a metal tree. Gavin was curled up against the far railing, looking out at the city below. From his fingers dangled a thin white cigarette. When he exhaled, the smoke only lingered an instant before the wind stole it away. 

“Detective Reed,” Nines called out, closing the door behind him carefully. Gavin had propped it open with the handle of a broom left beside the door for such a purpose. Dangerous. It was a fire hazard, but that didn’t stop the humans from doing it regardless. “There you are.”

Gavin gave an inarticulate grunt. “Here I am.” He didn’t even bother to turn; he just lifted his hand and took another drag of his cigarette. A cursory analysis told Nines that his fingers were numb, his cheeks pale from the cold. “The fuck do you want?” he asked on the exhale. “If it’s another case file, just leave it on my desk.”

Nines walked up to the railing, wrapping his hands around the cold metal to look out at the skyline that so dominated Gavin’s attention. The haze of the city wasn’t as bad in the winter, but the glare of the sun glinted brightly off the metal and glass that made up the Detroit cityscape. Far down below, honking car horns could be heard. Nines looked at Gavin, at the cigarette caught between his chapped lips. 

“You should go inside, Detective,” he said quietly. “It’s too cold for you to stand out here like this.”

Gavin’s eyes cut upwards, meeting his for just a moment before he looked back down and huffed out a laugh. The lungful of smoke curled out from between his lips, masking the expression for the barest moment. “I’m not out here for my health,” he said lowly. He took another drag, closing his eyes as he savored the tainted smoke filling his lungs. He held this breath in for one, two, three seconds before letting it out to be stolen away like the rest in the wind. 

He seemed to enjoy this. And in a sense, he must, since he made it a point to come up here everyday around the same time, whittling away a half hour to breathe in his toxins and poison himself a little more with each breath he took. Nines… couldn’t understand it. He wasn’t sure he ever would. 

It didn’t stop him from wanting to regardless. 

When Gavin lowered his hand to let out his next lungful of smoke, Nines interceded before he could. He lifted a hand and settled it on the back of Gavin’s neck, dragging him from the railing until Nines could cover the man’s mouth with his own. The surprise did the rest for him; Gavin let out the smoke in a stunned burst, and it filled Nines’s mouth, curling along the sensors, the chemical testers--

_ Nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide, CO, acetaldehyde, methane, hydrogen cyanide, nitric acid, acetone, acrolein, ammonia, methanol, hydrogen sulfide), hydrocarbons, gas phase nitrosamines, carbonyl compounds in trace amounts. _

Poison. Flat and simply put, it was poison through and through. Gavin’s eyes were wide, his cheeks now flushed a bright pink despite the cold. He put his hands to Nines’s chest and shoved, breaking the contact easily. Nines didn’t try to resist. The man stumbled back and caught himself on the railing of the building. The cigarette he’d been smoking fell from his fingers. It sparked on the ground beneath their feet, the bright cherry on the end an angry red--

“What the  _ fuck?”  _ Gavin wheezed, touching his lips with the tips of his fingers. “The fuck is wrong with you?”

Nines simply stared… Beneath the chemical compound still thick on his tongue, he could still read the composition of Gavin lying just underneath. The warmth of his mouth, the sensory flutter of his warm breath, the breakdown of his saliva. 

“You should stop smoking,” Nines heard himself say, because it was true. “You should care more about your health.”

Gavin stared at him. Stared at him incredulously, that flush still high on his cheekbones. He tightened his grip on the railing even though it had to be numbing his hand. Beneath it all, Nines could hear the sound of his heartbeat increase, rabbit-fast and thudding in his ears as if it were his own. 

“...Why the fuck do you care?” Gavin made a derisive sound, spitting it through his clenched teeth. He looked over the side of the building, down at the street below. But only for a moment. He let go, pushed away, shoved past Nines and stomped his way towards the propped open door. “Fucking android,” he spat over his shoulder. 

His skin was flushed all over now, warm when it had first been cold. 

And Nines… Nines stood there and watched him go. The door opened and closed, caught on that chipped and ragged broom handle. The wind rolled by and the building swayed beneath his feet. The cigarette’s ember lost the fight to stay lit. 

_ “Why the fuck do you care?” _

Nines stared out at the cityscape for approximately six minutes more. 

**[System Instability Detected]**

**Author's Note:**

> hope you guys enjoyed it! if you did, leave a nice comment below and consider checking me out on twitter @tdcloud_writes. until next time!


End file.
